New York Daily News

Mike’s off blaming injured fan’s family

-

Mike Francesa has made a living off of hot takes and playing devil’s advocate in certain situations, but this time the New York radio host may have gone too far.

Francesa addressed the dangerous foul-ball incident at Yankee Stadium that resulted in a young girl being struck in the head by a 105-mph line drive on his WFAN show Friday.

Rather than campaign for additional protective netting, the bullheaded radio host instead placed the blame on the young girl’s family for not reacting quick enough to protect her.

“No, I’m telling you her parents weren’t paying attention,” Francesa said, interrupti­ng a caller who disagreed with the radio host’s position on the incident. “They’ve got to be able to protect — you couldn’t protect the person sitting in the seat next to you? You couldn’t protect the person next to you?”

Despite the horrific accident that resulted in the young girl being hospitaliz­ed, the Yankees have yet to announce any plans to extend protective netting at the Stadium. MLB, fans and local politician­s have all pushed for them to do so.

The Reds, Padres, Mariners and Rockies all announced plans to add additional netting to their respective stadiums following the latest incident.

STIcKING wITH 6

The Yankees are “probably” going to use a six-man rotation for the next turn, Joe Girardi said before their 8-1 loss to the Blue Jays on Friday night. But the situation remains fluid as the team waits to see where it stacks up in the postseason race.

Masahiro Tanaka got shelled for three homers on Friday against the Blue Jays, with Sonny Gray and Jaime Garcia slated to follow him at Rogers Centre over the weekend.

CC Sabathia will then pitch on Monday in the Bronx, with Jordan Montgomery either going Tuesday or Wednesday.

Girardi could change up where he wants to slot Luis Severino depending on where the Bombers are in the AL East race.

The Yankees now trail the Red Sox by four games with nine games remaining in the regular season.

They could’ve clinched a postseason berth on Friday with a win since both the Angels and Rangers lost later in the night. The Yankees’ magic number on both of those teams is down to one.

Their magic number for eliminatio­n from the AL East title is six.

“We’re just going to have to wait and see where we’re at,” Girardi said. “It’s too hard to predict.”

Severino, the team’s 23-yearold ace, was moved from Wednesday to Friday back to Wednesday, where he ultimately lasted just three innings against the Twins, who could face the Yankees in the AL wild-card game.

The Bombers could want Severino available for the final day of the regular season in case they can tie or go ahead of the Sox in the division, though that seems extremely unlikely. They could also potentiall­y want him for an Oct. 2 AL East tiebreaker against Boston or the Oct. 3 wild-card game.

Severino is 4-4 with a 3.04 ERA in 12 starts on four days’ rest. He’s 8-2 with a 2.93 ERA on five days’ rest and 1-0 with a 3.38 ERA in four starts on six-or-more days’ rest. Severino has said he prefers pitching on regular rest.

HAPPY RETURNS

Adam Warren and Aaron Hicks are expected to rejoin the Yankees some time on their final homestand before the end of the regular season.

Warren (back) will throw another bullpen on Saturday, while Hicks (oblique) will participat­e in a simulated game in Tampa while also getting in batting practice.

“It’s going like we expected,” Joe Girardi said.

BIRD NESTS

Greg Bird, who is 1-for-11 in his career against Marco Estrada, got Friday’s game off. … Brett Gardner, who was hit in the back on Wednesday, is still a little sore and also got the game off. “He’s available to me, but I’d prefer to stay away from him,” Joe Girardi said before the game. Gardner never appeared. “I think he’ll be a player for us (Saturday).” … The Yankees are 6-8 against the Blue Jays this season. They mustered just three hits on Friday night. … Struggling reliever Dellin Betances warmed up late in the game but did not pitch.

 ??  ??

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States